Dr. Ecaterina Locoman is a Senior Lecturer of International Studies at the Lauder Institute and the Department of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. At the Lauder Institute, she oversees the curricular development and academic direction of the Capstone Research Program, the culminating initiative through which joint-degree students carry out original research and complete their M.A. theses. Her teaching focuses on international relations, comparative politics, and international order-making, all core components of the Lauder Global Program.
Dr. Locoman’s research specializes in comparative foreign policy analysis, alliance formation, public opinion, diplomacy, and the geopolitics of national interest, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Her current book project, Looking East or Looking West: Explaining Variations in the International Alignments of Post-Communist States, explores the divergent foreign policy paths pursued by post-Communist states following the USSR’s dissolution. She has conducted extensive field research in Ukraine and Moldova, including interviews with high-level political figures.
A former journalist, Dr. Locoman previously served as a Lecturer in the M.A. Program in United Nations and Global Policy Studies at Rutgers University, where she also directed the Undergraduate Exchange Program with Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. Her scholarly work has been published in journals such as Contemporary Security Policy and Media, War & Conflict.